Top Items:
New York Times:
Economy Lifts Bush's Support in Latest Poll — After months of political erosion, President Bush's approval rating improved markedly in the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, largely tracking Americans' more positive attitudes toward the economy. — But his presidency is still plagued …
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New York Times:
More Questions as Rice Asserts Detainee Policy — WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - Responding to pressure at home and abroad to set clearer standards for the interrogation of terrorist suspects, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the policy of the United States was not to allow its personnel …
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:Rice Clarifies U.S. Interrogation Methods
Discussion:
Balkinization, the talking dog, Liberty Street, The Sideshow, The Next Hurrah and Two Babes and a Brain
Sarah Lyall / New York Times:
Playwright Takes a Prize and a Jab at U.S. — LONDON, Dec. 7 - The playwright Harold Pinter turned his Nobel Prize acceptance speech on Wednesday into a furious howl of outrage against American foreign policy, saying that the United States had not only lied to justify waging war against Iraq but had also …
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Nigel Reynolds / Telegraph:
Pinter rails against US in Nobel prize speech — Age and sickness have not wearied him. Harold Pinter used the platform of his Nobel prize for literature yesterday to call for the prosecution of George W Bush and Tony Blair for the invasion of Iraq. He called it "a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism".
Washington Post:
In Cities Bush Cited, Progress Is Relative — In a tale of two cities, President Bush yesterday heralded progress in northern Mosul and southern Najaf as new models for rebuilding Iraq. — But last Friday, Iraq's government imposed emergency law and a curfew in Sunni-dominated Mosul …
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John Pain / Associated Press:
Air Marshal Kills Passenger, Citing Threat — MIAMI (AP) - An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was boarding for takeoff, officials said. No bomb was found.
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Daniel Williams / Washington Post:
Police Attack Voters During Last Day of Egypt Election — BADAWAY, Egypt, Dec. 7 — Police firing tear gas and rubber bullets blocked voters from reaching polling stations in several electoral districts around the country Wednesday and at least eight people were reported killed on the violent …
Discussion:
Informed Comment
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Jonathan Finer / Washington Post:
In Iraq, Signs of Political Evolution — Parties That Shunned January Vote Are Now Embracing the Process — BAGHDAD, Dec. 7 — Tucked into a bunker-like former headquarters of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, a type of war room unfamiliar in this country buzzed with life Wednesday.
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
House Passes 3 Tax Cuts, Plans a 4th — Cost Would Outstrip Recent Action on Deficit — The House passed three separate tax cuts yesterday and plans to approve a fourth today, trimming the federal revenue by $94.5 billion over five years — nearly double the budget savings that Republicans muscled through the House last month.
Discussion:
The RCP Blog, Wonkette, Balloon Juice, Suburban Guerrilla, Democratic Veteran and The American Mind
Shane Harris / govexec.com:
Army project illustrates promise, shortcomings of data mining — In the spring of 2000, a year and a half before the 9/11 attacks, Erik Kleinsmith made a decision that history may judge as a colossal mistake. — Then a 35-year-old Army major assigned to a little-known intelligence organization …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta
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Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
Will Rover Skate? — CBS News is reporting that Fitzgerald spent three hours with the grand jury today, accompanied by three deputies and an FBI agent. Since Judge Hogan's ruling last summer said that anybody testifying before the grand jury had to walk in through the front door …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Media Mob - NYO, Washington Post, Crooks and Liars and Balloon Juice
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NY Daily News:
Rummy exit rumored; Lieberman eyed for job — WASHINGTON - White House officials are telling associates they expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, once a new government is formed in Iraq, sources said yesterday. — Rumsfeld's deputy, Gordon England …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Media Matters for America:
O'Reilly promised to "bring horror" to alleged "anti-Christian forces" who oppose Christmas … On the December 2 broadcast of Fox News' The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, host Bill O'Reilly stated that he would "use all the power that I have on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people" …
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Peter Heinlein / Voice of America:
US Blasts Security Council for Failing to Condemn Terror Attack in Israel — Washington's ambassador to the United Nations has criticized the Security Council for failing to condemn the latest terrorist attack in Israel. — The envoy singled out Algeria for blocking a U.S. drafted statement.
ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Shoe Bomber Alert Preceded Airport Shooting — Egyptian Man Had Been Stopped at New York Airport; Shoes Tested Positive for Explosive — Dec. 7, 2005 — Federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News they had been on the alert for a possible shoe bomber when a federal air marshal opened fire …
Discussion:
Begging to Differ
Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Poll: Four Years After the Fall of the Taliban, Afghans Optimistic About the Future — Despite Deep Challenges in Daily Life, Afghans Express a Positive Outlook — Dec. 7, 2005 — Four years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans express both vast support for the changes that have shaken …
Neil Tweedie / Telegraph:
Fighter ace sells medals to spare wife long wait for hip replacement — One of the most decorated British fighter pilots of the Second World War has sold his medals, diaries and other memorabilia partly to pay for a hip replacement operation for his wife who faced at least a six-month wait on the National Health Service.
